Sacramento top stories: Red light cameras, teachers union deal, workers comp funds

From a state agency accused of tapping restricted funds to investigate its own employees to a draft plan for red light cameras and an ongoing school district budget crisis, here are the top stories out of Sacramento today.

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• The California Department of Industrial Relations spent an estimated $80,000 from workers’ compensation funds to investigate former Cal-OSHA district manager Michael Loupe, who was later exonerated of all seven allegations — including a claim he shot a toy bow and arrow at photos of Gov. Gavin Newsom and DIR Director Katie Hagen. A review of DIR contracts from 2020 to 2026 identified more than $30 million paid from the workers’ comp fund for purposes unrelated to workers’ comp, including $14.5 million in advertising and marketing. State law bars using the fund for anything other than workers’ comp claims and costs, and while DIR calls the practice standard and says reimbursement occurs, the department has declined to demonstrate it.

• Sacramento has released a draft list of 20 intersections where the city is considering installing red light cameras as part of an automated enforcement program tied to its Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2027. The Public Works Department is seeking community feedback through an online survey and a citywide workshop planned for November, with a program launch targeted for spring 2027. Fines would start at $100, with revenue required to be reinvested in street safety improvements. State Bill 720 made the program possible by reclassifying red light violations as civil infractions and adding privacy safeguards that bar photographing drivers and using facial recognition.

• Sacramento City Unified School District officials reaffirmed support for a teachers’ union agreement — rescinded by the Sacramento County Office of Education — as a key part of the district’s 2026-27 solvency plan, with Superintendent Cancy McArn saying it still accounts for roughly a third of the plan. The district has secured about $36.7 million toward a $150 million target, while the rescinded agreement is counted as nearly $49 million of the overall $158.6 million plan. Current projections show cash could last through April 2027 if relief tied to the agreement is realized, an improvement over earlier Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team warnings that funds could run out by January or February 2027.